Linderhof Palace is one of the smaller Bavarian royal castles Ammer Mountains about 15 km west of Oberammergau.
background
Linderhof Palace was built by King Ludwig II. in the years 1872-1878 in the Rococo style as the "Royal Villa" after the originally planned representative palace complex based on the Versailles model in Herrenchiemsee was implemented.
 fountain |  Temple of Venus above the terrace gardens |
The architect was Georg Dollmann, who completed the construction under the given special circumstances (the last train station was Weilheim, from there many materials had to be transported away). Linderhof is the smallest of the royal castles (apart from the Schachen hunting lodge), and also the only one that Ludwig II actually lived in and used himself as a place of retreat and seclusion.
Today Linderhof Palace is one of the most important and most visited attractions in Bavaria for tourists from all over the world. This development does not correspond to the interests of the client at the time. King Ludwig II had decreed that the castle should be blown up after his death.
getting there
| location | ||
| ||
| Distances (road km) | ||
| Oberammergau | 14 km | |
|---|---|---|
| Garmisch | 26 km | |
| Mittenwald | 41 km | |
| innsbruck | 87 km | |
| Munich | 97 km | |
Linderhof Palace is located in the Graswang Valley in the Ammergau Alps and directly on the Bavarian State Road 2060, which leads from the east from the Loisach Valley (Oberau) can be driven from and over the Ammersattel all year round in normal weather conditions. From the west (room Feet), especially after snowfall, there is often a winter closure.
By plane
- The next major international airport is Munich Airport, (Franz Josef Strauss, 144 km, approx. A good hour's drive). From here offer above all Lufthansa and their partner of Star Alliance Connections to cities in Germany, Europe and worldwide. As the second largest airport in Germany, it is connected to numerous cities in Germany and abroad.
- The can also be reached quickly Innsbruck Airport (83 km, approx. An hour's drive) with numerous connections to Germany and Europe;
In the street
Of east (Munich, Garmisch): In Oberau (on Bundesstrasse 2 after the end of the Munich-Garmisch autobahn) at the traffic light (that is, the one that is responsible for the "Bayern-3 weit" traffic jam near Eschenlohe) on Bundesstrasse 23 Turn off at Ettal (Oberammergau). After the village of Ettal turn left again and via Graswang to Linderhof.
Of west (Neuschwanstein, Füssen, Reutte): In Reutte, turn off the federal road 179 in the direction of Oberammergau (Garmisch), then to Linderhof.
By train
The nearest train station is in Oberammergau and is located on the Ammertalbahn.
Continue to the castle by bus or taxi, approx. 14 kilometers away.
mobility
The RVO (Regionalverkehr Oberbayern) looks after the bus routes in the region, RVO-Bus.de.
- Line 9622 Oberammergau - Ettal - Linderhof: Timetable as PDF.
- Line 9607 Ettal - Ohlstadt - Murnau: Timetable as PDF.
From the paid car park, the castle and park can easily be visited on foot.
Tourist Attractions
Castle building
The building consists of the main floor and the upper floor. The southern façade is richly structured with pilasters, windows, figures and a balustrade. Inside the building, the main castle rooms are the vestibule, staircase, east and west tapestry room (music room), yellow, blue, pink and purple cabinet, mirror hall, audience room, dining room and bedroom, everything that a king needed in his private life back then. The whole furnishing and furnishing of the rooms is extremely complex. The visit is possible during a guided tour.
Castle Park
The architect of the palace garden was Carl von Effner. He designed the 53 hectare complex in the sense of an absolutist royalty (no longer given for King Ludwig II) with historicizing stylistic elements of the Baroque and Italian Renaissance as a landscape garden based on the model of the early 19th century. Style elements are a multitude of sculptures and several smaller buildings in an exotic style ("Moroccan House", "Moorish Kiosk") and theater scenarios ("Venus Grotto", "Hundling Hut" and "Hermitage"). Carl von Effner's work received the highest recognition from the king, the garden architect was promoted to court garden director and ennobled.
Several other objects were planned, but were no longer implemented after Ludwig's death. The outdoor facilities are free to visit.
Objects worth seeing are:
 West parterre |  East parterre |
- Ground floor systems, Garden areas around the castle with hedge walls, wooden pavilions, arcades and flower beds, metal figures, vases and fountains.
- Water ground floor with fountain: A fountain up to 32 m high rises from the Neptune Fountain in the large basin in front of the castle at regular intervals.
- Western ground floor, first part of the garden from 1872.
- Eastern ground floor, as a counterpart to the western part of the garden.
- Terraced gardens, opposite the castle, in several levels, with symmetrical winged staircases, and a final Venus temple.
- The staircase is currently being restored and closed; the work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2008.
- cascade, Waterfalls on the north slope at the rear of the castle.
- Moroccan house, acquired by Ludwig in Paris at the world exhibition, transported in individual parts and set up again.
- Moorish kiosk, created by the architect Karl von Diebitsch for the world exhibition in Paris in 1867, came into the possession of King Ludwig via a stopover with the railway king Strousberg after his bankruptcy.
- Dog kennel, designed as "old Germanic dwelling" according to Richard Wagner's ideas. Originally erected at the foot of the Kreuzspitze (2185 m) for the performance of Wagner's "Ring des Nibelungen", burned down in 1884 and erected again, destroyed again by fire in 1945, reconstructed from 1989 to 1990 on the eastern edge of the park in its original form.
- Hermitage of Guernemanz, based on Richard Wagner's Parsifal fabric, built near the Hundinghütte at the foot of the Kreuzspitze, but fell into disrepair after the Second World War, restored in 2000 on the eastern edge of the park.
Venus grotto
The Venus grotto in the castle park and northeast above the castle was built as an artificial stalactite cave with a waterfall and lake in the years 1876/77 on an area of around 50 by 50 meters. The design was based on the background image in the first act from Richard Wagner's "Tannhäuser" based on the motif of the blue grotto in Capri and the Venus grotto in Hörselberg (Thuringia).
The innovative lighting in the changing colors of blue and pink was provided by 24 Carbon arc lamps, installed by Sigmund Schuckert. They were the first electric lights in Bavaria, they got their electricity from 24 Siemens-Dynamos. The first dynamos at Edison did not run until around 1879, and Edison invented the carbon filament light bulb in the same year. If you want, you can also see the world's first discotheque in the Venus Grotto: Ludwig let himself row around on the lake in a gold-plated shell barge to Wagner's music in changing colors of the electric light.
The construction of the 140-year-old grotto has suffered severely from moisture problems from the beginning and is ailing, it will be comprehensively renovated from spring 2015 for an estimated 34 million euros over several years, the visit is then only possible to a limited extent.
activities
- On the first weekend in February, Linderhof Castle, which is then deeply winterized, is a stop on King Ludwig cross-country skiing, this is the most famous German popular ski run with several thousand participants.
accommodation
- on site in the castle hotel
- Linderhof 14, 82488 Ettal; Tel .: 49 8822 / 79-0, Fax: 49 8822/4347; info.
- The next bigger place with numerous guest beds is Oberammergau.
trips
- the Pürschlinghaus or the Brunnenkopfhütte are mountain huts above the castle that are managed from early summer and can be hiked in around 1.5 to 3.0 hours, depending on your fitness level. For more information, see the article Ammergau Alps;
- to the near Ettal Monastery, or after Neuschwanstein, the world-famous royal castle in Schwangau at Feet;
- In the cities Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Mittenwald or a little further Munich or innsbruck;
- In the Wetterstein Mountains with the Zugspitze or in the Allgäu Alps;
literature
- Linderhof Palace, Official Guide of the Bavarian Palace Administration, 1st edition 2006; ISBN 3-932982-67-3 ; available on site in several languages.
Web links
- http://schlosslinderhof.de/ - Official website of Linderhof Palace
